In The News | 9th December 2021 | Latest Rail News

Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 9th December 2021

Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 9th December 2021

Train operator Go-Ahead Group has admitted to serious errors and failures in the way it ran the Southeastern rail franchise prior to it being taken over by the Government in October.

The article features in several of the newspapers including the Evening Standard. The Department for Transport stripped Go-Ahead of the route after it failed to declare more than £25 million of taxpayer funding.

Go-Ahead said it expects to pay a fine, although it said the full amount is unclear at this time.

The company said it believes it has good corporate governance structure in place but that it will look at ways to improve it.

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has today officially opened the brand-new Werrington Tunnel which carries freight trains underneath the busy East Coast Main Line.

The tunnel aims to bring significant improvements to passenger journeys on the East Coast Main Line as it passes through Peterborough.

By easing congestion on existing tracks, the project will unlock the potential to shave time off journeys, allow more passenger trains through, and will see improved reliability for journeys using the line daily.

Labour pushed for a vote on an “opposition day” motion in the House of Commons yesterday evening, the wording of which expressed regret at the Integrated Rail Plan.

Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, faced off against his newly appointed Labour Party counterpart, Louise Haigh, in an opposition day debate centred on the Integrated Rail Plan’s (IRP’s) effects on the North.

Opposition day motions are meant to represent the will of Parliament but are not legally binding.

Ayes for the motion were 139, noes zero.

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Hannah Kingsley has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) at the RSSB starting 1 January.

Hannah is joining the rail body from Network Rail, where she is the finance director for the Anglia Route.

Commenting on her appointment, she said: “I am excited to be joining at such a pivotal time for the rail industry. I genuinely believe that the industry is being given a unique opportunity to deliver a more joined-up and efficient approach, to modernise and drive forward a sustainable future.”

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